GM’s Maven Ride-Sharing Service Exits Boston, Chicago And NYC

General Motors will cease operations of its Maven ride-sharing service in eight of the 17 cities it currently operates in North America.

The Verge reports that the mobility company has been in a state of flux following the departure of chief executive Julia Steyn in January and that it will abandon cities including Boston, Chicago and New York City, though it will continue to operate in Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Toronto.

“We’re shifting Maven’s offerings to concentrate on markets in which we have the strongest current demand and growth potential,” a company spokesperson told The Verge.

Also Read: GM’s Robo-Taxi Ride-Sharing Plans Hit A Hurdle

Maven was launched in 2016 as a rental service to compete with Car2Go and ZipCar and initially introduced a peer-to-peer car sharing service. This allowed owners to rent their cars out by the hour or daily and collect a 60 per cent cut of the cost of each rental. General Motors said that owners could earn hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars by renting out their vehicles when they don’t need them.

Maven also launched a driver service called Maven Gig back in 2016 aimed at those interested in driving for ride-hailing companies but who don’t own their own vehicle. Users can rent an electric Chevrolet Bolt for $299 a week and use this vehicle for both Uber and Lyft driving.

Back in 2016 when Maven was launched, then GM President Dan Ammann said its various services would prove beneficial for customers.

“We see the emergence of car share and ride-sharing, in general, as much of an opportunity for GM than it is a threat. The thing that really changes between a shared model and a car-owner model is that the car is used in a much more efficient way. Now, cars are idled 95, 96 percent of the time. Utilization in shared can go up quite dramatically, and that makes the economics good for the customer and the company.”